August 07, 2013

Stephen Jones: Failed opportunity with Moore an example of team doing every thing it can to win now

Vice president Stephen Jones said the team was surprised
veteran guard Brandon Moore changed his mind about signing with the Cowboys
Wednesday morning just hours after agreeing to terms on a one-year deal Tuesday
night.

“I totally respect his decision,” vice-president Stephen
Jones said. “Obviously with a commitment like this you got to be all in. But it’s
surprising yes. We thought we had a deal and were going to have him here.”

Jones said the Cowboys the position remains a huge concern and the Cowboys will
continue to look at all their options in via free agency, trade or the waiver
wire.

“We are not through looking,” Jones said. “We have options.
But we also have parameters we have to work with in with our cap situation. We
have guys we are looking at. We will continue to look at all our options.”

Jones said the Cowboys didn't address the position in the
spring because of salary-cap issues and the hope that returning starters
Mackenzy Bernadeau and Nate Livings would be better in year two with the team. But
that was before they were missed much of the off season program with injuries
and have been hobbled throughout training camp.

"You have things that aren’t working out as planned and
you get guys injured and guys don’t do as well as you might have hoped,"
Jones said on trying to address problems at guard now and not earlier.
"Maybe they’re not doing as well because they’re injured. Nothing is ever
going to go perfect and in a salary cap you can’t cover every situation. You
have to leave you some room in case one situation goes awry and we left
ourselves a little room to do something, which we obviously tried to do some
thing yesterday and it didn’t work out for us."

One take way from the Moore pursuit that is a
positive for Cowboys fans is that it’s an example of the organization doing
everything it can to upgrade the team and win now. They are trying not to hinge
success on hope and prayer by putting a band aid on a critical situation.